This invention relates to shelving systems. In particular, this invention relates to a light rail for a shelf and a shelf embodying the light rail, having novel product signage capability.
Many different types of shelving systems are used for displaying retail merchandise. The most common standard system used for supporting shelves in retail shelving systems utilizes a slotted standard, which is essentially a metal channel with a main face having a column of vertical slots. Various shapes and styles of brackets are designed with one, two or three barbed or hooked flanges spaced to fit into the slots in the standard. An example is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,444 issued Nov. 19, 1996 to Otema, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The success of many types of retail merchandise, for example perfumes, cosmetics and the like, is heavily dependent upon presentation. Much of the cost of manufacturing these types of product is devoted to the retail packaging, with a large portion of the cost attributable to the artwork, design and fabrication that goes into the retail packaging. Accordingly, it is desirable to display such products in a manner that accents the form and presentation of the retail packaging.
For this purpose, lighted shelving systems have been developed which cast a uniform light onto displayed merchandise. In many such systems the merchandise is front-lit, highlighting the front of the packaging and reducing the effects of shadows, which detract from the aesthetic appeal of the product.
However, such shelving systems present a number of disadvantages. The light rail bordering the exposed sides of the shelving takes up valuable signage space which is conventionally used for product and pricing information displayed immediately above or beneath the product with which it is associated. The electrical lights typically used in lighted shelving systems are fluorescent tubes, which require a ballust transformer and wires extending along the entire length of the tube. Managing the wiring for such a lighting system is awkward, and wires can interfere with both the functionality and the desirable anesthetics of the shelving. Permanently connecting the lighting to a power source renders maintenance and replacement of the ballast transformer difficult, and the available flexibility in repositioning the shelves, which is one of the main reasons that the slotted standard is favored as a shelving system, can be significantly reduced.
It would accordingly be advantageous to provide a shelving system having a light rail that adequately illuminates displayed merchandise but still allows for product and pricing information displayed immediately adjacent to the product with which it is associated. It would further be advantageous to provide a shelving system having wire management capabilities, to both conceal and protect the wiring for the light, while at the same time allowing for easy maintenance and replacement of the ballust transformer and maintaining available flexibility in repositioning the shelves in the shelving system as desired to accommodate new merchandise.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a light rail for a shelf and a shelf incorporating the light rail. The light rail of the invention illuminates both displayed merchandise and product and pricing information, which can be displayed immediately adjacent to the product with which it is associated. In the preferred embodiment the light rail and shelf of the invention further incorporates a wire management raceway to conceal and protect the wiring for the light, which thus does not obstruct the display area.
In the preferred embodiment the ballust transformer is integrated as a plug-in component, allowing for easy maintenance and replacement of the ballast transformer, and the lighting system is adapted to be connected to a conventional duplex receptacle through a standard power cord, so as to maintain flexibility in repositioning the shelves of the shelving system. The ballust transformer may alternatively be an electronic transformer concealed within the wire management channel.
The invention accomplishes this by providing a shelf having a light rail extending along a front edge of the shelf. The light rail comprises a cover adapted to reflect light onto displayed merchandise while permitting light to pass through selected window portions to illuminate product and pricing information on translucent or transparent signage. In the preferred embodiment the signage is supported between a pair of opposed flanges inside the cover, which facilitates replacing product and pricing information as new merchandise is loaded into the display. The cover is preferably hinged to the light rail so as to be pivotable between a closed position in which the cover reflects light onto the merchandise, and an open position which allows access to the product and pricing signage and to the fluorescent tube for replacement.
Additional indicia such as product and pricing information may be featured on a tag or label affixed to a sign strip disposed behind the light rail, and/or along a front edge of the shelf board or a front shelf support.
In the preferred embodiment wire management is provided by a channel formed between a cover support extending across the front edge of the shelf, and a backing strip for the fluorescent tube. A connector in communication with the wiring within the raceway is adapted to receive a complimentary connector from the ballust transformer, so that the ballust transformer can be unplugged from the wall receptacle and from the raceway receptacle, to thus completely remove the ballust transformer from the shelf for repair or replacement. Alternatively an electronic ballust transformer may be disposed in the channel, so that all permanent wiring for the fluorescent tube is concealed within the wire management channel.
The present invention thus provides a light rail for a shelf mountable on a display, the shelf comprising a frame having spaced apart mounting members, the light rail being mounted along a front portion of the frame and comprising a cover having one or more windows for allowing the passage of light through the cover and one or more receptacles for a light source, wherein when transparent or translucent signage is mounted adjacent to or in a window light emitted by a light source passes through the signage to illuminate the signage from the rear and reflects off of the cover to illuminate articles stored on the shelf from the front.
The present invention further provides a light rail for a shelf mountable on a display, the shelf comprising a frame having spaced apart mounting members, the light rail comprising a light support member comprising a front ridge and a rear ridge defining a wire management channel, a light support plate forming a cover for the wire management channel, and one or more receptacles for a light source mounted in fixed relation to the light support plate, wherein wires conveying power to the receptacles are disposed within the wire management channel.